1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to new and useful improvements in support stands for drums and other musical instruments. More particularly, the present invention relates to a support stand for holding a set of multi-tenors often known as “triples” or “quads”.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Prior art for stands for musical instruments and especially for percussion instruments such as multi-tenors typically show the use of tripod stands with multiple rods for mating to various parts of the multi-tenor drums in order to hold the drums with the drumheads in a substantially horizontal orientation. The multiple rods are adjustable and normally include wing nuts or other tightening methods to hold the rods in place. Certain prior art drum stands are briefly described hereinafter.
U.S. Pat. No. 342,062, issued to Bemis, for example, discloses a Snare Drum. The Bemis patent describes a snare drum with three (or more) leg assemblies for supporting the drum at a height comfortable for practice or performance. The leg assemblies comprise hollow leg portions and lower leg portions telescopically receivable in the hollow leg portions. Screws function to selectively clamp the lower leg portions within the hollow leg portions so that the user can raise or lower the drum to suit the circumstance, or to cant or angle the drum as desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 624,662 ('662 patent), which issued to Leedy, for example, discloses a Drum Stand. The '662 patent describes a drum stand comprising a head piece having three projections radiating from the center of the top plane thereof, a pair of arms pivoted upon the head piece and extending radially over two of said projections, an arm rigidly secured to the head piece and extending over the other one of said projections, a turned-up lug at the free end of each of said arms, a rib to support each of said pivoted arms laterally at the side opposite said rigid arm, a clamping device at the underside of said head piece, and a supporting stand connected to said clamping device. The Leedy stand appears to be suitable for supporting a single drum.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,433,594 ('594 patent), which issued to Calo, generally discloses a folding tripod drum stand with a lateral support under the drum which is center supported. More particularly, the '594 patent describes a drum stand comprising a flat base of extended dimensions, an adjustable telescoping standard rising centrally from the base, a drum-supporting frame, and a ball and socket connection between the standard and the drum-supporting frame to thereby provide a support for the drum frame and in which the support elements are axially aligned and extend normal to the base plane.
The ball and socket members of such connection are carried respectively by the standard and the drum-supporting frame with the ball carried by the drum frame and having its center included within such axial alignment. The ball member has an equatorial roughened zone with the drum frame extending from a polar zone of the ball. The socket member has an open top to permit lateral swing of the drum frame with a limited range, said connection including an adjusting nut cooperative with the socket member to secure the ball member in adjusted position relative to the socket and to release the ball from the socket, the relation of ball and socket being such that co-operation between the equatorial zone of the ball and the socket will be present in all of the adjusted positions of the drum frame.
The drum frame includes an arm secured to and extending from a polar axis of the ball in a direction normal to the equatorial zone. The arm carries a laterally extending element the opposite free ends of which extend angularly to the direction of length of the element and in substantial parallelism to the direction of length of the said arm, said ends each carrying means for removably securing the drum.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,072,910 ('910 patent), which issued to May, discloses an Adjustable Tripod Stand. The '910 patent describes a tripod stand having independently adjustable legs comprising a longitudinal extensible upright portion of telescoping tubular members, a plurality of collar members slidably mounted on the upright portion which are longitudinally adjustable relative to one another and to the upright portion for selective positioning thereon, and a plurality of movable leg members operatively connected to upper and lower collar members for selective independent longitudinal positioning and radial extension relative to the upright portion and to one another.
When an upper leg supporting collar and the corresponding lower collar are moved toward each other on the upright portion, the bottom of the leg connected thereto will be extended radially outward independently of the other legs, and when the upper leg supporting collar and the corresponding lower collar are moved away from each other, the bottom of the leg connected thereto will be drawn radially inward independently of the other legs.
The independent positioning of the legs may be at different distances from the upright portion or in different planes relative to the other legs and thus allows the stand to be erected in limited or confined areas or on multi-level surfaces. The independent positioning of the legs also allows the longitudinal axis of the stand to be tilted to an off-vertical axis position for positioning the center of gravity of the supported vehicle within the supporting legs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,253 ('253 patent) which issued to Hoshino, discloses a Universal Support for Drums. The '253 patent describes a universal support structure wherein the angular adjustment provided by the universal support for an object supported thereby remains fixed even though the object, such as a drum, has been removed from the universal support. The universal support is capable of holding a support rod relative to a support stand having an attachment member. The universal support includes a receiving member, with a rod press and a support stand press each attached to the receiving member.
The receiving member and the rod press each has a concave surface adapted to accommodate the rod support sandwiched between the contoured surfaces of the receiving member and the rod press. In addition, the receiving member and the support stand press each has a concave surface adapted to accommodate the attachment member of the support stand sandwiched between the concave surface of the receiving member and the support stand press. Thus, the universal support is capable of accommodating the attachment member of the support stand independently of the rod support.
None of the foregoing prior art related to drum or instrument stand assemblies shows a gravitating pivot assembly co-operable in conjunction with the stand assemblies. Some of the more pertinent prior art relating to gravitating pivot assemblies and the like are briefly described hereinafter. U.S. Pat. No. 219,921 ('921 patent), issued to Davis, for example, discloses a Table for Holding Broom-Straw.
The '921 patent describes a gravitating pivot assembly to orient the rotating assembly in a preferred position. More particularly, the Davis patent describes a post ratchet and a hub ratchet engage at a ratchet interface and effect a post-to-hub ratcheted interface for enabling a user to rotate a wheel and yet orient the wheel in the preferred position.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,049,072 ('072 patent), issued to Frey, discloses a Gravity Hinge. The '072 patent describes a gravity hinge comprising a dual-sectioned pivot pin having an upper pivot section and a lower pivot section. The lower end of the upper pivot section and the upper end of the lower pivot section comprise co-operable V-shaped or V-notched cam surfacing for orienting the hinge and attached door in a closed position.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,299,810 ('810 patent), issued to Toole et al., discloses a Theater Chair. The theater chair described by the '810 patent comprises a chair with a gravitating pivot construction formed under the center of the seat which construction, in part, uses gravity to orient the chair in a preferred position. U.S. Pat. No. 2,290,410 ('410 patent), discloses a Work Table Seat. The '410 patent describes a worktable seat with a pivot construction under the center of the seat which construction also uses gravity and a multitude of interlocking teeth to make free rotation of the seat difficult, but enables to user to selectively orient the seat relative to the work table portion of the construction.
While the above patents and many subsequent patents of the prior art disclose gravitating pivot assemblies or drum stands, none discloses that the instrument stand utilizes a single vertical post mounted to the set of drums to allow for fast and simple placement of the instrument on the stand. Further, none of the prior art discloses a gravitating pivot which aligns the drums in an orientation suitable for practice or performance, and none discloses a stand which allows for spinning the drums for an interesting visual effect. The prior art thus perceives a need for such a musical instrument stand construction as summarized in more detail hereinafter.